Getting ready for Colorado Fall Peak Colors

My studio faces north. I can see the La Plata Mountains, and the Animas Valley. I love the see the approaching, clearing and socked in storms that surround this mountain town. I live and work with the San Juan National Forest and the Weminuche Wilderness in my backyard. As I sit here this morning, I’m anticipating the fall color spectacle with excitement. My best guess is that the end of next week will be a great time to get out and photograph. I’m heading north on this coming Friday and planning to get out and stay out for a few days late next week.

In preparation for fall photography, here are a few things I suggest

Charge batteries

Clean lenses

Upload and empty all CF and SD cards

Leave the tripod in the car, ready to go

Pack a bag of layered clothing for the mountains

Pack raingear for the inevitable storms (oh yeah)

In addition to the gear preparation, I tend to look over fall photos from past years to get inspired. Here are a few, from Colorado, Utah, and New Jersey. I live 3 hours from Moab and Southeast Utah. Some of my favorite trees (Cottonwoods) are along the Newspaper Rock Road between Monticello and Moab.